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IN A HOLDING PATTERN

STAMFORD, Conn. -- As it seeks to become a major industry player, Quality Food Centers, Bellevue, Wash., has opted to form a holding company here to oversee its acquisition and expansion program. lding company, told SN.The purpose of the holding company -- called Quality Food Inc. and based here -- is "to find new platforms and acquisitions and develop best practices across all units," Sinclair explained.Under

STAMFORD, Conn. -- As it seeks to become a major industry player, Quality Food Centers, Bellevue, Wash., has opted to form a holding company here to oversee its acquisition and expansion program.

lding company, told SN.

The purpose of the holding company -- called Quality Food Inc. and based here -- is "to find new platforms and acquisitions and develop best practices across all units," Sinclair explained.

Under the holding company arrangement, both QFC and Hughes Family Markets, Irwindale, Calif., function as operating companies that report to Sinclair, "and as we add other platforms, those companies will become parallel divisions," he explained.

Sinclair is the former president and chief executive officer of Pepsico Food and Beverages International.

He told SN he was attracted to QFC "because I was looking for new opportunities where I could be more entrepreneurial, and I was intrigued by the opportunities at QFC to take a great property and leverage its strengths and operating principles through consolidation into a broader company in a highly fragmented industry."

Gary Giblen, managing director of Smith Barney, New York, said Sinclair brings "illustrious experience to QFI as a consumer goods marketer, which will be put to use in refining the price positioning of QFC, and perhaps Hughes."

Besides Sinclair, the holding company consists of two other former Pepsico executives -- Fred Meils, chief financial officer, and Bill Ketcham, vice president, marketing and public affairs.

"For now, that's all the personnel we need," Sinclair said. "As we get bigger and develop more economies of scale, we may decide to look at things differently and pool some of our talent at the center. But for right now, it's wiser to keep things lean."